COMMENTS

lets be honest

>point out the odd rationale used to support the teaching of evolution in US schools.

I should point out this ignorant rationale is only used a handful of the US states. These states all happen to not only be red states (mostly Republican) but also coincidentally are in the bottom 10 states in income and education level. In fact for some reason all 10 bottom states in average income are red states.

Re: lets be honest

And yes I know the worst state for all this is Kansas which rates in the middle income wise but this is the state that is home of the Westboro Baptist Church. Sadly in many red states today another Scopes monkey trial would result in the defendant being lynched by the bible thumpers.

Re: lets be honest

Well we have seen with the Penn St fiasco that Pennsylvania seems to operate more like a Boss Hog southern state than NE liberal state. Plus you always have Philly full of thugs (chavs) who would even throw batteries at Santa Claus at half of an Eagles game.

Praise...

You know something?

I actually hope the Flying Spaghetti Monster is real. I want to see it flying towards Earth as scientists and priests sit there weeping into their textbooks and prayer books. As the colossal meatballs roll across continents and oceans turn into tomato sauce, I will laugh hysterically, comforted by the fact that everything the human race knew and believed was utterly ridiculous and pointless.

And a major supporter of ID is running for republican presidential nomination

See PBS "Judgement Day Intelligent Design on Trial" (frontline)... where a small Pennsylvania town school board tried to have ID added to the biology curriculum! Heavily supported by Rick (google it) santorum. Note the santorum google thing probably NSFW...

Re: But is the FSM evil or compassionate?

Pity I did not hear this yesterday.

I was accosted by evangelical Christians yesterday evening and was asked what I believed in. I pointed to Venus, Jupiter, and Mars in the sky stating that my Goddess of Love, Father of Gods, and God of war were all now visible in the sky, so who was I to doubt. They were genuinely shocked.

On the other hand, if I started out about the FSM they would probably know immediately I was pulling their leg (which I was of course), so suggesting belief in ancient gods is probably the better ploy.

Note to self: find how to reliably identify Venus/Mars/Jupiter in sky (I have no talent in astronomy, but I'm sure I'll be able to work it out).

I actually like that approach, it's certainly less work than a friend of mine put in (not willingly, it was the place he grew up that sort of forced it upon him): he knows the bible more or less backwards, so his hobby is to always invite Jehovas Witnesses and proceed to confuse the crap out of them by countering every pre-cooked statement with actual bible quotes (he gets them to look it up as well, which is IMHO doubly evil). Needless to say, they tend to avoid his place now :-).

"so his hobby is to always invite Jehovas Witnesses and proceed to confuse the crap out of them by countering every pre-cooked statement with actual bible quotes"

I keep 'em on the doorstep.

Yesterday they lasted half an hour before the escaped.

I was in a good mood, the happier I am the longer they get to stay - until they realise they have been tied in knots. (It's not my book so they ought to know it better and not just a few choice extracts)

Yup, I keep 'em talking too - they're not used to anyone having a strong interest in science and being able to put up a good argument using solid evidence.

If they come round trying to convince me there's a god, they are fair game for being convinced that actually there isn't.

They don't come round any more - except just once when wanted to talk to someone Chinese they'd been told lived there. I'm not Chinese, so they were a bit surprised. Given up on Brits I guess, and trying to find someone more polite who won't just slam the door in their face.

Note to self: find how to reliably identify Venus/Mars/Jupiter in sky (I have no talent in astronomy, but I'm sure I'll be able to work it out).

There's an app for that ;)

If you want to go the old fashioned route. When Venus is visible it is always found relatively close to the Sun so it is best seen around sunrise or sunset. It is by far the brightest natural object in the sky apart from the Sun and the Moon and appears bright white. With a telescope or a pair of binoculars you might even be able to see the phases of the planet.

Jupiter is fainter and never shows phases.

Right now you can see Venus and Jupiter quite close together around sunset in the Western sky - they are both very bright. Venus is closer to the horizon than Jupiter. Meanwhile on the other side of the sky you can see Mars - it's very bright and in a region with few bright stars and distinctly reddish orange - even in built up areas.

Just to add to what Mike Richards said - all objects in the solar system lie in roughly the same plane (known as the ecliptic), so Mars, Jupiter, Venus and the Moon all lie on or around an arc across the sky. They are all easy to spot right now if you look towards where the sun has set and follow it round.

Likes beetles

I can't disprove that of course, just as I can't prove/disprove the existance of God. However, although there are reasons to believe in God, I can't see any reasons to believe He is preoccupied with pasta. Jesus was partial to fish, apparently, if that helps.

Perfect timing!

ARRR! It's certainly fitting that a FSM story comes out on Friday, after all it's His Nodliness's favourite day of the week. Grab a tankard of ale and a wench and let youself be touched! (by His Noodly Appendage)